Gas-generator



(No Model.)

P. PHILIPS.

GAS GENERATOR.

YNo. 277,926. Patented May 22,1883.

l v4 4 \I/ a' JI i Z \l I Fn M l I nllllli! i UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

FERDINAND rnILIPs, or PnILADELrHIA,'AssIeNoR or oNnnALr ro J. B. Y

FORD, or HIrEs, PENNSYLVANIA.

'GAS-GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 277,926, dated May 22, 1883.

Application filed February 16,1882. (No model.)

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND PnILIPs, a citizen of the Empire of Germany, but domiciled at Philadelphia, in the county of Phila- 5. delphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Generators, of which improvements the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form 1ov part hereof.

My improvements pertain to that class of gas-generators which are called more com monl y producers,77 because they are employed to generate orproduce from the imperfect combustion 15 of .solid fuel carbonic oxide or gaseous fuel for application in separate apparatus, to which this gaseous fuel isconducted from the generator l r producer without being ignited until it reaches the place where it is to be consumed; 2o and it is the object of myinvention to perfect the construction of such producers in several respects, so as to improve their operation, to prevent their rapid destruction, andto facilitate access to the interior for the purpose of z 5 removing ashes, clinkers, &c.

As a good exempliflcation of perhaps the best known recent improvements in gas-generating furnaces, and at the same time of the serious difficulties or defects which still char- 3o acterize them, I refer to Letters Patent No. 213,318, dated March 1S, 1879, to Brook and Wilson. Thisfurnace has been introduced in this country, and may be regarded as the most advanced heretofore in use. Without adverting to minor defectsiri it, the Brook and Wilson 'furnace wears away rapidly, because its numerous fittings cannot be kept tight enough to prevent the escape of the subtle gases generated within it, and it cannot be cleaned out except 4o with great difficulty, and not only with a waste of fuel, but by exposing the workmen to an almost intolerable heat and to serious personal risk. While unnecessarily complicated in its interior arrangement, it is imperfect also in its y 4 5 provisionsfor being opened,cleaned, and closed again, requiring, when itis to be cleaned, the insertion of crupperlbars, which must be driven across the furnace through the fuel at a point as near as maybe between the unconsumed fuel and the ashes and clinkers, these bars forming, in fact, a temporary grate to support the unconsumed fuel while the single ash-port below is open for the removal of the accumulated ashes and clinkers. Upon the opening of this do'or the ashes and a considerable proportion of `fuel shaken down by the insertion of the crupper-bars rushes out at the open port, occasionin g difficulties that will readily berap preciated, these difficulties being even greater when'anI attempt is made to clean this furnace without first insertingthe crupper-bars. The workman has now not only to contend with this avalanche of ashes and incandescent fuel, but also to break up and rake out as well as he can the masses of clinker which are always found at such times to have accumulated all around the lower part of the furnace, and in breaking up and dislodging which he is con stantly bringing down first incandescent fuel, and ultimately thefresher parts of the charge.w Working only from one side and through a comparatively narrow opening, it is of course,V

impossible to remove the clinker thoroughly. Under such conditions the cleaning of such a furnace is not only a laborious and trying task, but itinvolves a very serions loss of time not only while the operation of the furnace is suspended, but in restoring it again to active operation. Again, when in operation this furnace is found to leak so much as to burn away the walls and the iron fittings-such as the door, its frame, and the crupper-bar channelsaudits wear is actually rapid, aside from the escape and waste of gas. But in my improved gas-generator I have cured'all of these ditliculties-that is to say, I prevent leakage or waste ot' gas and the'above-mentioned attendant destruction of the furnace and its fittings, I obviate the necessity of providing for the use of crupper-bars andthe disturbance of the charge attendant upon their introduction, I prevent. the tumbling down and ont lof the ashes and incandescent fuel when the port is opened and the attendant hardships upon the workmen above mentioned, and I aord ready access to every point in the lower part of the furnace, rendering it easy to remove all the clinkers therefrom very quickly, as well as with facility,

and I simplify the construction of the furnace itself very greatly.

In the drawings annexed hereto and forming part hereof I have shown, in the best form known to me,my improved gas-generator, Figure l being a vertical section through the apparatus on the line .fr x of Fig. 3, Fig. 2 be ing an elevation with the shellpartiall y broken away to show a section on the line 1/ y, Fig. 3, Fig. 3 being a cross-section through the apparatus, givingatop View ofthe tuyeres in position; and Fig. iis a plan ot' the dischargepipe or downtale.

I construct the producer proper in the form shown in the drawings, and in general` more or less familiarly known in blast-furnaces namely, with a cylindrical central section, a coned'top section, and an inverted cone lower section, but the depth and convergence of this cone being such as to embody one of the fun-- damental principles of my invention, as hereinafter described. This producer is -built up of 1ire-bricl,f, upon a suitable foundation, as is well understood, and inclosed with a shell, m, of boiler-iron. The producer is fitted at the top with 'a chargingfhopper, H, and abell, b, such as are used in blast-furnaces, and at Vthe bottom is provided with a grate, g, so proportioned and located as to leave a solid hearth around thebase, as seen especially in Fig. 3. `Beneath the grate'g, I provide an ashpit, a, having a suitable door, d. A channel, c, is formed in and extends across the foundation, communicating at its outer end with a blower, B, and from this blowerB ajet of air, or air and steam, is forced into the channel c, and by means ofa pipe, P, is led into the asbpit and underneath the grate, through which it passes up into the fuel. I also connect with the channel c the tuyeres P P P P, through which are introduced above the grate lateral jets of air, or preferably air and steam, from the blower B. Two openings, o o, one opposite the other, are cut through the shell 'm and brick-work f into the interior of the furnace above the grate g. Each of these openings is fitted externally with a strong cast-iron door, d, which can by proper fittings be secured in place or removed, as desired, and between each door and the adjacent opening into the furnace I interpose a heavy block, t, of refractory material, fitting the opening and protecting the door, as well as confining the fuel or thc ashes within or nearly within the lines of the bottom of the furnace. At the top ofthe furnace I lead ofi' the gaseous fuel through a pipe, n, into the downtakeD, from which it passes through a tunnel, C, to the point at which it is to be ignited and consumed. The valveo in the downtake is operated, as required, to open or shut off the communication between the tunnel C and the interior of the producer. The stem s of the valve o passes through the cover of the downtake, and in this v coverI provide a series of holes, as shown in Figs. l and 4, which holes I cover respectively with loose lids, sealing them with sand, so that while serving to prevent the escape of gas in the normal operation of the producer, they will act as safety-valves in case of a backilow of pressure caused by any disturbance of the operation. To admit of the inspection of the interior of the producer, and also to permit ofthe introduction of stoking-,irons, when required, I provide openings in the top of the producer and cover them with movable lids i i. I also providea spy-holeon the outer end of each of the blast-pipes P P, closing them with mica windows, so connected that they can be swung aside and a stoking-iron passed through the tuyere into the producer, thus enabling me not only to inspect all parts of the producer during the operation, but to reach parts of it, as may be required, for the dislodgment of clinker or other obstruction.

While I do not limit myself to a particular depth or angle of inclination toward the hearth in what a may call the boshes of my producer, (the lower section,)as these might vary slightly with thc use of different fuels, yet I do prescribe the rule derived by me from actual practice with anthracite and bituminous coal, and forming the basis of this feature of myinventionhthat is to say, the angle of inclination will of course determine the depth, and this inclination must always be such that the sides will sustain the fuel on the principle of the sliewback of -an arch, the arch being represented by the bottom of the incandescent fuel. In the drawings this depth and inclination of the boshes are exemplified by an angle of fifteen degrees with the central axis, or one hundred and five degrees with the plane ofthe hearth. This rule being observed, it will be found inthe operation of the producer thatthe line of support will rise wi-th the consumption of the fuel and virtually form an ash-pit below this line, the effect of this support ot' the charge being not only to cause or permit the ashes and scorirc to settle down toward the bottom of the producer without being tightly compacted by the superincumbent weight of the charge, but also, as I have found by actual practice, to cause the fuel to settle down so gradually that the arch is maintained; and .even when the doors are opened to clean the producer the ashes andiscoriac are removed IOO lIO

without necessarily disturbing or breaking down this arch, and consequently without the loss of unconsuined fuel, and, in case the fuel should fall down upon the hearth, yet it will be found that by reason of the given inclination ofthe boshes it will not rush out through the openings, but will simply bank up across the reduced area ofthe bottom ofthe producer, and even across the openings themselves without coming out even so far as to in any way prevent the proper replacement of the tiles and the closing of the doors. In cases where the arch of fuel does not break down, the-producer is simply closed after being cleaned, and a stoking-iron introduced at such point through the tuyeres or through the top of the producer, as maybest serve tojloosen the fuel and let it down upon the hearth.

The support afforded by the boshes, as just described, is so positive and absolute that I have no occasion to use crupper-bars, and as I make no provision for their use I am enabled to simplify the construction of the producer very materially'by the omission of iittin gs that would otherwise be necessary. and I avoid the difficulties from such fittings, which I have already indicated in the operation of the producer. t

The operation of my improved gas-producer is as follows: A fire is built on the grate g, and the fuel gradually fed in upon this lire through the charging-hopper H and bell b, operated in the well-known mannerv indicated in Fig. 2. The valve t in the downtake D is opened, so as to give an outlet through the tunnel C to the chimney leading from the combustion-chamber. into the atmosphere. The blast or jet, heilig turned on through the blower B, gradually passes from the channel c, through the pipe P', beneath the grate up into the fuel, and through the tuyeres P P P P above the grate into the fue] from different points, the several jets being thoroughly diffused through the fuel and promoting the conversion of the carbonio acid, forming more actively at the lower part of the producer into carbonicoxide, and forcing it upward until itpasses oft' through the pipe it-into the downtake I),its exit being regulated by the valveo, as the quantity produced increases with the increasing incandescence and roasting of the solid fuel with a rapidity greater or less, according to the regulation of the blast from the blower B. The best practice will be observed by limiting the depth of the charge in the producer to about the middle ofthe central section until the accumulation ot' ashes inl the lower section has attained some depth, when they will begin to settle down and ad-. ditional fuel maybe charged in, and as the ashes below continue to accumulate the fresh fuel above may be added until it is as high as the lower line of the top section of the producer. When the accumulation of ashes has increased so much as to appreciably reduce the active generation of the gaseous fuel it is proper to clean the producer, and for this purpose I shut otf the blast, and after a short interval, allowing for the passing off of the gas in the upper part of the producer, I close the valve U in the downtake to shut off the communication with the tunnel C. I then remove the doors l d and the tiles t t, when the ashes will be found banked across the openings through the producer, and not only can the ashes be readily removed through these openings,.but any scori or clinkers that have ac-A cumulated can be readily broken up at whatever part of the producer they may be lodged, and with great facility pushed out by the workman through the side opposite to him, or drawn out through the side next to him, until the hearth and grate are thoroughly cleaned. It is here that the advantages of my improvements are most conspicuously exhibited, as I iind that the fuel has been much more deliberately and thoroughly reduced to ashes than heretofore, while the scorize have not the prop-u erties and do not present the difficulties of re moval usually found in gas-producers heretofore. This is due in my system very largely to the automatic gradual and uniform feeding down of the ashes and scorize, followed gradually by the fuel during the operation, and this feeding down of the fuel demands a' cylindrical body and alower section, such as already described. The shape of theupper section may be varied as convenience or other circumstances may dictate, so far as is consistent with the above-described form of the other parts of the producer.

Having thus ject of my invention, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is, as improvements in the construction and operation of gasproducersn 1. The improved gas-generator, constructed substantially, as described, with two openings on opposite sides thereof, the doors, and the removable tiles interposed between the doors and the interior of the furnace, substantially as and for purposes set forth. i

. 2. The improved gas-generator, constructed substantially as described, with a cylindrical body, a lower sect-ion or boshes in the form ot' an inverted cone converging toward the hearth on the principle of the skewback of an arch, and at an angle substantially such as prescribed, and having openings in opposite ends ot' the lower section, with doors, and removabl'e tiles interposed between the doors and the interior of the furnace, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FERDINAND PHILIPS. l

described the nature and ob-` TOO 

